School of Music

Jessica Ruth Morris

Overview

PhD Research:‘Postminimalism in Music’
Postminimalism is a term that has been used loosely in Musicology since the late 1970s, and forty years later, despite growing scholarly usage we are still no closer to understanding what postminimalism actually is. This is particularly evident when searching for the term in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: in spite of referencing postminimalism on a number of occasions, the term itself does not have its own entry. This thesis examines the diverse and disparate applications of the “postminimal” in music, using the visual arts as a point of comparison and drawing upon Minimalism as a framework for interpretation. In light of this, an exploration of the problems that postminimalism presents will be demonstrated through case studies of various composers, including Philip Glass and Michael Torke, eventually bringing the discussion into the twenty-first century with current artists such as Mogwai and Bombay Bicycle Club. Through this detailed examination, a long overdue discourse of postminimalism can finally be initiated, and a clearer understanding of the term can begin to be established.